Best and Worst of Friends

These girls are either the Best of Friends or the Worst of Enemies. It's good to see them work through their differences though. I think they will always remain close when they are older. They are only 14 months apart but it's like they are twins. They are just growing up so fast. I wish I could slow down time. I love my little ladies.

Handsome One

What is there not to love about this little guy?! He's amazing. Lately, he's been grunting and roaring as loud as he can! He is all boy!!!! Sometimes it's so loud at my house. It feels like we have around 10 kids some days! I love it though. I love the fun noise, giggles, and squeals.

The Girls!

We all fixed our hair the exact same and went out to dinner at Red Robin with the family. We had a nice time and stuffed our tummies! Thankyou Nanna and Pappa for the great meal!

Homemade Pies Made With Love

We had our own Thanksgiving dinner here in AZ after returning from CA. The girls made homemade pies with Pappa and Nanna. It really was fun to see them all cook! I didn't have to worry about the desserts! Yippie.

The Annual Gingerbread House

The girls made their annual Gingerbread house with Nanna. I must say.....it turned our to be pretty cute! I think it is most certainly a "girl" house. Look at all the pink and fluff!

Mr. Man

Lincoln has been giving us the 'serious-man' face for quite a while. Of course we all crack up laughing. He really knows how to stare us down! He had the entire table of family members staring and laughing at him in California. Oh, he's just so dang cute!

Thanksgiving in CA

We drove down to California on Thanksgiving Day to spend with Paul's side of the family. It was fun having a lot of family members around and the playing with the cousins. Our kids never get to do play with their cousins........so this was especially nice! It felt like a real Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Program

Kennedy had her first program at school! It was a blast. She kind of looked like a deer in the headlighst up there! We were laughing and cracking up. Also, she didn't like being a pilgrim and really wanted to be an Indian.She was so very precious!! It was fun having Paul's parents go too and see her perform.

Simple

Lately we've just enjoyed the simple things in life: hiking, camp fires, donut runs to Krispy Kreme, netflix movies, and the entire family (including Clifford) laying on Kennedy's bed. I love family!

Curious

I always wonder.....where will I be next year at this time? Do you? I'm always curious about the future? I wonder what major hurdle we will be jumping or major celebration we will be clapping for. I always wonder. I do like to reflect also on the past. I'm so thankful for how far we've come and how much He has blessed us both! We have great family and some pretty dang amazing friends! I do feel, however, that there is much in front of us! I feel like God has some stiff plans for us some day! I'm not sure what but I think we are being molded and (broken at times) in order that we may be in the shape He wants. Just curious.......Jer.29:11

Heart Breaker

This little man has stolen my heart! Lately he has been quite cuddly and wants to lay his head on my shoulder. How can I resist. He also has started saying "uh-ooohh". It's way too darn adorable! Not to mention he has a very cute 'stare-down'. Yep, he'll lock eyes with you and turn those eyebrows in and just give you the very scary serious look. We do it right back until we can't help but burst into laughter and then he throws his head back and laughs too! He's just so jolly! I love him!

Growing Up

So Mia says to me the other day "Mom, when am I gonna be all grown up, anyways?" Then she said "cause it's taking so long......" I told her that she was growing up way too fast and I loved her being my baby girl! Of course she loved hearing that. We've been snuggling alot lately and sitting down to color together. It's so fun!

Time is Precious

I haven't blogged in forever. I guess life has just taken me by the coat tails! Tonight as I was leaving to go have girl time, Kennedy said "will you snuggle me when you get home?" I said, yep, I will if you are awake. Then she said "pink promise" and then came at me with the pinky. So we folded pinkies and that was that. So when I got home, I walked into her room to see her fast alseep like a princess. I just sat down next to her and rubbed her little feet. I was just pondering about how much she has grown up this year and how much I wish time would slow down. I have so many things I want to do and say. I already feel like I'm running out of time. Time is brutal and seems to beat us to the punch each moment. It's one of the cruel things in life that we cannot manipulate. I cannot speed up time or slow it down. All I can do is make it count!

Mia's First Day of Preschool

That's my girl! She went right in and had a blast!! She mentioned the book that Mrs. Chapman read and talked about the snack. My favorite part was when she showed me ALL of the facial expressions from the story, using her own face! Very cute.

Kennedy's First Day of Kindergarten

Kennedy was brave and willing to go. I felt very strong as well. She walked right up to the school with us and began socializing. She then went up and hugged her teacher and began to play with Mrs. Fierro's skirt (this made me nervous cause the skirt wasn't real long and I thoughts she was gonna flip it up!!) When I picked her up, it was as expected. Kennedy tested the waters!! Should I expect anything less from a Born Leader?? Well, I guess she challenged the p.e. teacher what it "means" to actually "freeze". The teacher would like her and the class to squat down and touch the floor when she shouts "freeze". I get that! But......Kennedy insists that when "freeze" is shouted, one should just freeze in the mid-air at whatever one is doing. Okay........so I had to explain to her that the teacher and her are both correct about the word "freeze" but.........the P.E. teacher is the BOSS. so.......let's do it her way. Let's see.....what else. Oh, Kennedy told me that she pulled a stink bug off someone's back that day too! That's my little helper!! Then she proceeded to tell me that she didn't share the bug with anyone. It was hers! okay..........what else?? Oh yeah, she decided that she wanted to "buy" her lunch cause she wanted chicken nuggets and not what I packed. So...we had much to talk about!! hahahahah..........I love my first born!

For You, Kate

Virginia

Pray for Kate

What do you say to your good friend when she calls you, sobbing, cause she just found out that her 5 yearold, my daughter's best friend, has a brain tumor that is cancerous????? I love you, Holly and I'll be there as soon as I can. Well, that's all I could think of. Paul and I rushed to the hospital to be with the McRae's and said silent prayers all the way there. I then cried the entire way home! How come this is happening? Why? I thought it was a bad dream and I hoped to wake up soon! Not so though. So, here we are, the lucky ones, watching our dear friends and daughter fight for life! I always feel so blessed and very undeserving!!! Lord........protect them and heal Kate!!!!!

Mother's Day

This may have been my favorite Mother's Day so far. So are you wondering what special and expensive gifts I received? Well, there were not any diamonds, flowers, chocolate, expensive perfume or spa gift cards. It's actually much better than that!! About a week or so before Mother's Day I got kicked out of the girl's room after prayer because they wanted to plan with daddy. I was asked to politely leave and then heard lots of giggling and talking behind the closed door. To my surprise, the girls had a very strategic plan. They wanted to stop at Starbucks that morning, then head to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. The Starbucks was for me!! Yummy! Then I was sent to the pool for the day to spend time with a friend. At dinner, Paul and Kennedy brought in Chinese (my favorite) for dinner. We ended the night with Pizzookies! It was a perfect day!

Happy 4th Mia

My First Triathlon